Macrobrachium faustinum male

 

Macrobrachium faustinum female

 

Common Name:

None yet...

Scientific Name:

Most likely Macrobrachium faustinum

Size:

5-7cm without claws

Temperature:

best kept at 72°F-84°F

Water Parameters:

Needs hard, alkaline water over the long run. Should not be kept in soft acidic water at all. Can live in brackish water with relatively high salinity.

Food:

Fish food (flake, pellets etc), Blackworms etc.

Origin:

Caribbean

Larval Development Type:

Normal: larvae go through several planktonic stages before metamorphosing into post-larvae (miniature shrimp) and assuming a benthic lifestyle.  For this process they need brackish water to full strength saltwater.

Macrobrachium faustinum is a very widely spread Longarm Shrimp from the Caribbean. It occurs on almost every island in rivers and creeks with rocky bottoms.  The rocks provide it with hiding places from where it goes on excursions for food. This species occurs both in freshwater and brackish water and I have found both adults and juveniles of all stages in a small creek only a 100 meters away from the sea.

In captivity, the females carry eggs constantly in 2 week intervals. Several hundred larvae hatch that need to be transferred into high salinity brackish water or saltwater and fed planktonic food to survive.

The males have one very large claw along with a "normal size" one, which makes them superficially look similar in look to some of the Asian Macrobrachium species such as the "Chameleon Shrimp", which is sometimes offered commercially.  However, they are are not closely related.

This shrimp is not commercially available anywhere as far as I know.

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